Police
Category: Departments Background City of Pittsburgh Police City of Pittsburgh's former Chief of Police, Robert McNeilly, took over a police bureau that was full of young, inexperienced officers - a bureau that had just been slapped with 60 civil rights lawsuits alleging routine abuse of citizens by officers. Police staff was 1,170 officers when Mr. McNeilly took over in April 1996. In January, 2006, reductions had the totals to 869. McNeilly came in as Chief as Tom Murphy came as mayor. Both had a 12 year tenure. Mr. McNeilly served as chief for 10 years, the average tenure for major city police chiefs is about three years. Pittsburgh had four chiefs in the 10 years before Mr. McNeilly took over. In March 1997, the city entered into a consent decree with the U.S. Justice Department, making the Pittsburgh police bureau the first major department subject to federal oversight. * Planks from Mark Rauterkus about police * Planks from outgoing Police Chief McNeilly * Planks from Bob O'Connor about the Police Department * Idea from ACLU's legal director on Pittsburgh Police * Ideas from CPRB's exec director, Elizabeth Pittinger * Comments from FOP's Michael Havens about Police * Comments from potential police chief, Costa Jan 2006 * Police-plank-Philly-candidate * Police-plank-Brackney * Police-plank-Milwaukee City plans to hire more police - news and HOW it was done from June, 2006 * Police-plank-Potter-on-Costa from October, 2006 by Chris Potter of Pittsburgh City Paper * Police-plank-Mike Ference from January 2007 concerning demoted police commander * Police-plank-Ravenstahl * Police-plank-Peduto * Police-plank-pierogie from the City Paper in April 2007 Insights * Police-fight-at-ball Policemen Ball brings a fight among police force employees * Police brutality has been called the most unfair, all-encompassing, active use of fear from Adrienne Maree Brown. ** Unchecked, police brutality creates a dynamic wherein people are caught between the struggles they face in their communities and the broken trust with those who are supposed to protect them. The crisis of the modern era is always that of systems against corruption. We act out our values by creating systems for living on this planet together. Those systems then get corrupted, and we suffer until we can eradicate that corruption, create protections against that viral corrosion of our best chance at survival. Details City spends $1 million for police car computers :Friday, February 09, 2007, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette By March 2007, some 200 city police cars will be fitted with computers and "smart card" systems that will allow the bureau to monitor the location of every officer. The investment totals around $1 million, including a $120,000 grant from Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr.'s office. Mergers * Transit police merger considered - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, January 2008 * Merger of Allegheny County, Port Authority and county Housing police units proposed, December 05, 2006, Post-Gazette -- Republicans on Allegheny County Council will introduce a proposed ordinance today to merge the Port Authority and Housing Authority police departments with the county police force. History Earl Buford, was a black chief of police, who ended his career as chief in 1995. Community Police Police spokeswoman Tammy Ewin says Pgh Police Chief, Dom Costa, supports community policing “as a philosophy for all officers to embrace,” but he has no plans to re-establish the program ex-cheif, McNeilly scrapped. :Source: City Paper, April 2006 Links * Nate Harper * Police stations * PA Police Olympics * Earl Buford * Francis Rende, police officer who is brother of Marlene Cassidy * Cmdr. Catherine McNeilly, suspended in October, 2006, and wife of former chief, Robert McNeilly, fired by Bob O'Connor. * Dom Costa, ex detective, shot on the job, retired, named chief by Bob O'Connor, resigned again, and may run for mayor in 2007. Media * Cops, kids face off at basketball tourney from Pittsburgh in October 2008. The tournament started in 2007 after former Olympic sprinter Lindel Hodge, 46, of Penn Hills, approached Councilman Bill Peduto and said he had seen the program work in Los Angeles. * Pittsburgh Police Citations and ACLU from September 2008 * Police Policy and PFAs in the P-G in September 2007 * Domestic abuse by police gets city hearing Post Gazette, September 2007 * Police, Community Work Together to Fight Crime - Government Technology, August 2007, just before the public hearing. * Latinos complain about police harassment Post-Gazette, August 2007, Meeting with PIIN * Pittsburgh - Police Statement - For Ravenstahl trust wearing thin on policing - Views - Potter's Field - Pittsburgh City Paper, June 2007 * City Council approves settlement for case against off-duty cop - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, March 7, 2007 * Peduto wants all police side jobs to go through city, March 01, 2007, by Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Councilman William Peduto called on Mayor Luke Ravenstahl to charge an extra fee to businesses that use off-duty city police, in light of the $200,000 settlement of a lawsuit involving an officer working such a side job. * http://postgazette.com/pg/07053/764037-53.stm about Police overtime in Feb 2007 City police's fairer system for doling out off-duty jobs ready soon * http://burghreport.blogspot.com/2007/02/pg-police-off-duty-detail-story.html from Feb 2007 * Jaywalkers be warned Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - Public hearing on the 'Make Pittsburgh More Walkable' project, 2 p.m. Saturday at The University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public Health auditorium, between DeSoto and Bouquet streets ** By David Conti, December 7, 2006 -- Jaywalkers are not a big priority for police patrolling Downtown. 'With our limited resources, specifically targeting jaywalkers isn't at the top of our list,' assistant city police Chief William Bochter said. 'We're taking a more prudent approach and giving warnings instead of tickets.' Pittsburgh officials are working on a plan for making streets safer for pedestrians. * STORIES CLASH IN CONTENTIOUS POLICE STOP by: Melissa Meinzer, December 7, 2006, Pgh City Paper -- The case of Pamela Lawton, which has led to demands for greater oversight of city police, is no clearer after a preliminary review. * City clears Regan, who quits December 02, 2006, By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette -- Operations director, Dennis Regan, was accused of meddling in personnel decision * Ravenstahl dumps plan to add service fee to bill for off-duty cops November, 2006 -- Post-Gazette -- A plan died to tack a city service fee on top of the charges private businesses pay for the services of off-duty police officers. The plan would have added $4 or $5 an hour to the charge for an officer's services on 'detail' outside a bar, cultural offering, sporting contest or other event. 'I didn't want to create hardships for businesses,' Mr. Ravenstahl said. 'A lot of businesses were going to reduce the number of officers they hired' if the fee was added." * Ravenstahl promotes police chief, Nate Harper, P-G, October 2006 * Costa retires as police chief; search on for successor, P-G, September 30, 2006 * Operation Safe Summer from Chicago, May, 2006 * P-G coverage of Woodyard, #2 guy in Police force in Pgh, April, 2006. * Council holds hearing on police pursuit policy July 13, 2006, by Jonathan Silver, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette -- ''In 2004 and 2005, Pittsburgh police engaged in 659 motor vehicle pursuits, in which a dozen innocent people were injured. On average, they covered 1.8 miles, lasted 2.85 minutes and were clocked at 37.3 mph. * Blessing Of The Badges Seeks To Unite Communities (KDKA) PITTSBURGH Pittsburgh Bureau of Police command staff members participated in a city-wide blessing of the badges in November, 2006. The interfaith service took place at Freedom Corner in the Hill District. LTE * Timothy_Uhrich on police pursuit policy by Pittsburgh's Police in July, 2006 Blogs Meta Blogs * http://technorati.com/tag/police * http://2politicaljunkies.blogspot.com/search/label/Pittsburgh%20Police Links * Sheriff * FOP Endorsements Category:Police